Intraperitoneal intravenous administration of Flamma®-conjugated PEG-alendronate-coated upconversion nanoparticles in a mouse pancreatic cancer model.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most common forms of malignant disease with a poor survival prognosis. Currently, nanomedicine holds great promise for targeted diagnosis and treatment of this cancer, which also reduces toxic side effects. In this work, we prepared PEG-coated monodisperse upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) with a conjugated Flamma® fluorescent dye for imaging and detection of particle distribution .

Aneurysmal 99m Tc-HMPAO Uptake in Brain Death.

A 41-year-old man was admitted to hospital due to sudden loss of consciousness. A regional brain perfusion SPECT/low-dose CT showed abnormal 99m Tc-HMPAO uptake in the right hemisphere frontotemporally without any other supratentorial or infratentorial radiotracer uptake. A neuropathological examination disclosed a middle cerebral artery aneurysm.

Photon-counting CT using multi-material decomposition algorithm enables fat quantification in the presence of iron deposits.

Purpose: A new generation of CT detectors were recently developed with the ability to measure individual photon's energy and thus provide spectral information. The aim of this work was to assess the performance of simultaneous fat and iron quantification using a clinical photon-counting CT (PCCT) and its comparison to dual-energy CT (DECT), MRS and MRI at 3 T.

Methods: Two 3D printed cylindrical phantoms with 32 samples (n = 12 fat fractions between 0 % and 100 %, n = 20 with mixtures of fat and iron) were scanned with PCCT and DECT scanners for comparison.

Proteinase-activated Receptor 2: Springboard of Tumors.

Proteinase-activated receptors (PARs) were discovered more than 25 years ago and since then, their role in cancer has been under investigation. Research has primarily focused on the receptors located on the membrane of cancer cells and their impact on metabolism, intracellular signalling, and proliferation. Regarding the host response to cancer, studies have predominantly examined the relationship of thrombin receptors (PAR-1, PAR-3, and PAR-4) with blood clotting in distant metastatic spread.

The way to data: opinions and recommendations for the provision of health data for secondary use.

Healthcare data held by state-run organisations is a valuable intangible asset for society. Its use should be a priority for its administrators and the state. A completely paternalistic approach by administrators and the state is undesirable, however much it aims to protect the privacy rights of persons registered in databases.

Advances in Liposome-Encapsulated Phthalocyanines for Photodynamic Therapy.

This updated review aims to describe the current status in the development of liposome-based systems for the targeted delivery of phthalocyanines for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Although a number of other drug delivery systems (DDS) can be found in the literature and have been studied for phthalocyanines or similar photosensitizers (PSs), liposomes are by far the closest to clinical practice. PDT itself finds application not only in the selective destruction of tumour tissues or the treatment of microbial infections, but above all in aesthetic medicine.

[Updated Czech guidelines for the treatment of patients with colitis due to Clostridioides difficile].

The updated Czech guidelines differ in some aspects from the 2021 guidelines issued by the ESCMID Study Group for Clostridium difficile. The key points of these Czech recommendations may be summarized as follows: • The drug of choice for hospitalized patients is orally administered fidaxomicin or vancomycin. In outpatients with a mild first episode of C.

SARS-CoV-2 Specific Humoral Immune Responses after BNT162b2 Vaccination in Hospital Healthcare Workers.

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has led to a loss of human life in millions and devastating socio-economic consequences worldwide. So far, vaccination is the most effective long-term strategy to control and prevent severe COVID-19 disease. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the humoral immune responses raised against the BNT162b2 vaccine in hospital healthcare workers.

Perishing rich, expanding poor: Demography and population genetic patterns in two congeneric butterflies.

In human-altered landscapes, specialist butterflies typically form spatially restricted populations, genetically differentiated due to dispersal restrictions. Generalists, in contrast, display minimum differentiation but high genetic diversity. While local-level actions suffice to conserve specialists and landscape-level actions are necessary for generalists, minimum information exists regarding conservation of species with intermediate features.

Pharmacokinetics of Intramuscularly Administered Thermoresponsive Polymers.

Aqueous solutions of some polymers exhibit a lower critical solution temperature (LCST); that is, they form phase-separated aggregates when heated above a threshold temperature. Such polymers found many promising (bio)medical applications, including in situ thermogelling with controlled drug release, polymer-supported radiotherapy (brachytherapy), immunotherapy, and wound dressing, among others. Yet, despite the extensive research on medicinal applications of thermoresponsive polymers, their biodistribution and fate after administration remained unknown.

Epithelioid sarcoma with retained INI1 expression as a cause of a chronic leg ulcer.

Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare soft-tissue sarcoma typically presenting itself as a subcutaneous or deep dermal mass in distal portions of the extremities of adolescents and young adults. They are frequently mistaken for ulcers, abscesses, or infected warts resistant to standard medical treatment. Patients often develop multiple local recurrences with subsequent metastases.

Chelators for Treatment of Iron and Copper Overload: Shift from Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds to Polymers.

Iron and copper are essential micronutrients needed for the proper function of every cell. However, in excessive amounts, these elements are toxic, as they may cause oxidative stress, resulting in damage to the liver and other organs. This may happen due to poisoning, as a side effect of thalassemia infusion therapy or due to hereditary diseases hemochromatosis or Wilson's disease.

[COVID-19: diagnosis and treatment].

The guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the management of COVID-19. The clinical manifestations of the disease are described and indication criteria for hospital admission of patients with COVID-19 are listed. Polymerase chain reaction and antigen testing are used in direct diagnostics.

Restoring a butterfly hot spot by large ungulates refaunation: the case of the Milovice military training range, Czech Republic.

Background: Refaunation/rewilding by large ungulates represents a cost-efficient approach to managing natural biotopes and may be particularly useful for areas whose biodiversity depends on disturbance dynamics and is imperilled by successional changes. To study impacts of refaunation on invertebrates, we focused on butterflies inhabiting the former military training range Milovice, Czech Republic, refaunated since 2015 by a combination of Exmoor pony ("wild" horse), Tauros cattle ("aurochs"), and European wisent.

Methods: We analysed butterfly presence-absence patterns immediately after the military use termination (early 1990s), prior to the refaunation (2009), and after it (2016-19); and current abundance data gained by monitoring butterflies at refaunated and neglected plots.

COVID-19 severe pneumonia: Prospective multicentre study on demands on intensive care capacities.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to obtain data on demands on the intensive care capacities to treat COVID-19 patients, and to identify predictors for in-hospital mortality.

Methods: The prospective observational multicentre study carried out from 1 March till 30 June 2020 included adult patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection with respiratory failure requiring ventilatory support or high-flow nasal oxygen therapy (HFNO).

Results: Seventy-four patients, 46 males and 28 females, median age 67.

Fidaxomicin versus metronidazole, vancomycin and their combination for initial episode, first recurrence and severe Clostridioides difficile infection - An observational cohort study.

Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of different antibiotic regimens for the treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) with regard to the CDI episode number and disease severity.

Methods: An observation cohort study included 271 CDI patients hospitalised between 2013-2016. Univariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between patients' clinical outcome (sustained clinical cure or recurrence) in a 60-day follow-up and the antibiotic regimen used (oral metronidazole, oral vancomycin, combination of oral vancomycin and metronidazole, oral fidaxomicin).

Disseminated Pelvic Actinomycosis Caused by .

Actinomycosis is a chronic bacterial infection characterized by continuous local spread, irrespective of anatomical barriers, and granulomatous suppurative inflammation. Due to its expansive local growth, it can simulate a malignant tumour. Subsequent hematogenous dissemination to distant organs can mimic metastases and further increase suspicion for malignancy.

Chelating Polymers for Hereditary Hemochromatosis Treatment.

Hemochromatosis (iron overload) encompasses a group of diseases that are characterized by a toxic hyperaccumulation of iron in parenchymal organs. Currently, only few treatments for this disease have been approved; however, all these treatments possess severe side effects. In this study, a paradigm for hemochromatosis maintenance/preventive therapy is investigated: polymers with negligible systemic biological availability form stable complexes with iron ions in the gastrointestinal tract, which reduces the biological availability of iron.

The FSHR Expression in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer. A Pilot Immunohistochemical Study.

Background/aim: Follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHr), expressed on endothelial cells of vessels in different malignant tumors, has been recently investigated as a potential pan-receptor of cancer treatment. However, the expression of this receptor has also been confirmed in other tissues under pathological conditions including cancer. The aim of the presented pilot study was to evaluate the expression of FSHr in head and neck squamous cancer (HNSCC).

Drug Delivery Systems for Phthalocyanines for Photodynamic Therapy.

The focus of this review is to describe the state-of-art in the development of innovative drug delivery systems for phthalocyanines as photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT is a medical treatment combining photosensitizers (PSs) activated by visible light of a specific wavelength to selectively destroy targeted cells, tumor tissues and its surrounding vasculature. In the last decades, PDT has been under intense investigation, first as a promising alternative approach for improved cancer treatment, later against microbial infection and nowadays, mainly in aesthetic medicine, against age-related degeneration.

[Initial antibiotic treatment of serious bacterial infections].

The article summarizes the known facts regarding the selection of antibiotics for the treatment of sepsis and similar serious infections, their mechanism of action, dosage and mode of administration. Particular attention is paid to early antibiotic therapy: a delay of several hours in the onset of antibiotic therapy can be tolerated if it helps to clarify the aethiology and to refine the treatment. However, in case of the very acute infections it is necessary to start antibiotic treatment immediately; diagnostic procedures are mentioned that can be used for the selection of the appropriate drug.

[Guideline for fecal bacteriotherapy to treat recurrent Clostridium difficile colitis].

We present a case of a 17-year-old female with anti-NMDAR encephalitis probably associated with vaccination against yellow fever. Her symptoms occurred 27 days after vaccination against yellow fever. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis manifested as acute psychosis, memory loss and catatonia following fever with complex partial epileptic seizures.